The present invention utilizes the Venturi effect to produce medical grade foam comprising CO2 for use in applications such as wound care and hair growth stimulation. The apparatus of the present invention is simple to manufacture and use because it does not require an impeller and incorporated fan with a foam generator in order to create and dispense the foam.
The Venturi effect is an example of Bernoulli's principle, in the case of incompressible fluid flow through a tube or pipe with a constriction in it. The fluid velocity must increase through the constriction to satisfy the equation of continuity, while its pressure must decrease due to conservation of energy: the gain in kinetic energy is supplied by a drop in pressure or a pressure gradient force.
The limiting case of the Venturi effect is choked flow, in which a constriction in a pipe or channel limits the total flow rate through the channel because the pressure cannot drop below zero in the constriction. Choked flow is used to control the delivery rate of water and other fluids through spigots and other types of valves. The portable apparatus of the present invention utilizes a source of compressed gas, namely CO2, to produce the desired pressure and airflow for the effective creation of medical foam, which foam is, in turn, used for wound care and hair growth stimulation. To date, medical foam has been used strictly in sclerosing applications, wherein blood vessels are destroyed. Medical foam has not been previously utilized in wound therapy or hair growth techniques wherein cell growth is encouraged. CO2 enriched foam has certainly not been put to such uses.